External monitor use (like standard HDMI monitors - multiple)

Sonicflight · June 09, 2016, 02:08:14 PM

Hi All,
I went through the threads trying to see if this topic has been addressed/asked yet, but couldn't find anything, so I'm going to post it now and look for some feedback/help.

Here's what I'm trying to do:
- I'd like to be able to use standard 21" monitors and actually build them into 'wedges' like a sound monitor speaker for each band member, where it would basically show the setlist, lyrics, and any special notes (like the tablets, but 21" big monitors).
- I would actually look at some 4 or 5 way HDMI splitter so it would feed each monitor (all detail would be the same on each monitor).

Has anyone been able to work anything like this out..? Thoughts/ideas on what/how I could do this..? I'm hoping not to do much with wireless and multiple tablets, as it's been challenging to manage them for everyone, keep connected, etc., as well as, it would be significantly smaller than a nice 21-24" monitor.

Thanks for your help and feedback in advance...!!
Gary

apilz · June 09, 2016, 08:42:04 PM

Gary, neat idea. Are you running Bandhelper on iOS? Have you considered using Apple TV and mirror the iPad screen so it shows on the screens? I'm sure you could use a hdmi splitter for more than one display from the Apple TV hdmi output? I'd be interested in the result and feedback.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Sonicflight · June 10, 2016, 07:18:15 AM

Hi Alan...

Well, I've thought about it but hoping for a better alternative - as just with personal use with Apple TV and mirroring, it's not consistent but flaky and touchy. I can't be on stage and having issues with it, as at that point, it would be affecting the rest of the band. The other issue around that is that we are already packing the 2.4Ghz wireless band (MICs, guitars, bass, DMX lighting, and wireless HDMI for video screen), so I'm hoping for more of a 'hard wired' option.

As for IOS, I haven't heard or seen any other options around a PC/web version of the application that I could use, unless I'm overlooking something. Maybe get a little micro PC running Android..?

Thanks!
Gary

arlo · June 10, 2016, 12:28:07 PM

What part of this are you having a problem with, or what are your questions?

Sonicflight · June 25, 2016, 06:04:55 PM

Arlo,
Question are around if anyone has figured out a way to simply use standard 17" or 19" monitors to ''display' the content vs. a tablet setup for each person. The monitors would just display the same thing for each one so an HDMI/SVGA splitter would be required to send to multiple monitors, but the display would be significantly bigger than a tablet and ultimately, would only have to setup one device to drive the external monitors.
Thanks!
Gary

arlo · June 27, 2016, 08:24:48 AM

An external display should mirror your screen automatically if you plug it in. I don't know about the splitter part, but if you know of a splitter that works in other situations, it should work in this situation.

tonygardner · July 07, 2016, 07:05:49 PM

I'm doing the same thing for my church! So far, I've been able to successfully use the standard Apple lightning to HDMI adapter to a 25' HDMI cable going to a 26" flat screen TV.

I also bought a 4x2 (4 in / 2 out) HDMI matrix splitter/splicer from Monoprice, and plan to integrate it into the system so folks can pick and choose what they get on their monitors. I imagine you would need to get something similar for your setup.

I had the same idea about building stage monitor style boxes for the TV's! Let's see if we can compare notes as our progress continues. I'll certainly post a picture when I've built one.

PROBLEMS:
1. Under Setup > General Appearance I'm a little confused about the "Doc+1" option. I would have thought that it would direct the next (or the 2nd) document to the external display while letting me look at Doc#1, but this doesn't seem to be the case.

2. When I choose the "Document" option, the external display does the MS Word equivalent of zooming to "Page Width", so it's wonderfully huge, but only the first half of the page is visible. For now, I'll just stick with Mirror mode since that seems to work best. BTW, I have tried rotating the TV so it's in portrait mode, and this works great, but will need that monitor box built before we can actually use it in a live setting.

arlo · July 07, 2016, 09:56:16 PM

Quote
1. Under Setup > General Appearance I'm a little confused about the "Doc+1" option. I would have thought that it would direct the next (or the 2nd) document to the external display while letting me look at Doc#1, but this doesn't seem to be the case.

That is what it should do. Let's say you have three documents attached to a song. If you display the first document on your main screen, the second document will appear on the external screen. If you switch to the second document on the main screen, the third document will appear on the external screen, etc.

Quote
2. When I choose the "Document" option, the external display does the MS Word equivalent of zooming to "Page Width", so it's wonderfully huge, but only the first half of the page is visible. For now, I'll just stick with Mirror mode since that seems to work best. BTW, I have tried rotating the TV so it's in portrait mode, and this works great, but will need that monitor box built before we can actually use it in a live setting.

You can pinch the document down until it snaps to Fit Height mode, or tap the document tool button and select Toggle Fit Height.

tonygardner · July 07, 2016, 10:01:41 PM

Thanks Arlo. I'll submit a help request for #1 if it becomes necessary. I'm much more likely to use the ProPresenter output into the HDMI matrix, but it's nice to know its intended purpose!

Sonicflight · July 23, 2016, 01:13:38 PM

Tony,
Have you been able to make progress...? You sound like you're right in-sync with what I am trying to accomplish.
Let me know.
Gary

tonygardner · July 25, 2016, 08:52:30 AM

QuoteHave you been able to make progress...? You sound like you're right in-sync with what I am trying to accomplish.

Hi Gary.
Sorry for the delay, but as with all things, our project solutions tend to evolve over time. At this point in history, we are using the Apple lightning to HDMI adapter, and running a 25' Cabernet HDMI cable (which we bought from Monoprice) from my iPad at the piano to a Dell 2407FP at the front of the stage. The monitor is turned sideways (portrait), and is propped up using a simple support frame that I built using 3/4" plywood, and pocket hole joinery to hold it together. On BH, I set it to output the Document and rotated it 270 degrees, and this is working out great. The singers particularly appreciate it when the pastor calls out a song that isn't on the pre-planned list, and I can have it on the screen in about 10 seconds.

The HDMI matrix got returned to Monoprice since we only really needed one monitor. Once the church grows, we can easily add more with a less expensive passive splitter.

Just for fun, I did order the WeCast DLNA HDMI dongle, but it requires A/C power and we would just as soon use for our LCD TV in the Sunroom at home. Plus, BH would crash every time if WeCast was already running. To use BH, I had to kill the connection, fire up BH, then restart WeCast.

Do let me know if you need more details on any aspect of what we did, and I'll do my best to help.

Cheers,
Tony G.